65 today and still one of the world's great rock bassists. My eldest brother took me to see deep purple in Newcastle in 1972 (I was 11) and even at that age I could tell he was something special. Rumour has it there'll be a new album and a tour in 2011 - can't wait.

He is a seriously underrated bass player. I learned tons of his stuff with Purple back in my early days as a bassist in the 1970s.

He was also the first (and only) player I ever remember using a _double_ Marshall Major stack, if I remember the cover of "Made in Japan" correctly. Lordy Lu, that rig must have been able to pulverize stone at 100 feet considering he played a Rick (with roundwounds) pickstyle. Yipes!